JP5946884B2 - Position detection system that detects the position of an object - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a position detection system that detects the position of an object having a concave portion or a convex portion.

  As described in Patent Document 1, it is generally performed to correct an object detection data acquired using a visual sensor or a camera to obtain an accurate position of the object. In Patent Document 2, after a target object is detected by a visual sensor provided in the robot, the visual sensor is moved by the robot, and the same target object is detected by the moved visual sensor. And in patent document 2, it is determined whether the detection result of a visual sensor is related to the same target object.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-241626 JP 2005-251086

  However, when the object has a portion that is difficult to detect by the visual sensor, for example, a concave portion or a convex portion, erroneous detection occurs. For this reason, the exact position of a target object cannot be detected and work efficiency falls.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a position detection system capable of accurately detecting the position of such an object even if the object has a concave portion or a convex portion. The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve the above-described object, according to the first invention, in a position detection system for detecting the position of an object having a recess or a protrusion, the object is fitted following the recess or the protrusion of the object. A contact provided with a copying part, a sliding member integrally formed with the contact, a sliding part for sliding the sliding member in two directions perpendicular to each other, and the two directions A moving part that moves the contactor in a direction perpendicular to a plane and fits the copying part of the contactor following the concave or convex part of the object; and a base part of the sliding part; The camera has a fixed positional relationship, and includes a camera that detects the position of the contact in the plane, and an object position detection unit that detects the position of the object. A target is provided on the upper surface of the contact. The target is the field of view of the camera The target position detection unit is located within a range, and the target position detection unit captures an image of the target captured by the camera before the copying unit of the contactor follows the concave portion or the convex portion of the target object. The copying portion of the contact is detected from an image of the target imaged by the camera after the sliding member slides on the sliding portion following the concave portion or the convex portion of the object. A position detection system is provided that detects the position of the object based on the amount of movement of the contact .
According to a second invention, in the first invention, when the moving unit moves the contact in at least one of the two directions, the contact is moved by the moving unit. The position of the object is detected based on the amount and the amount of movement of the contact when the sliding member slides on the sliding portion.
According to a third aspect, in the first or second aspect , the moving unit is a robot.
According to a fourth aspect , in any one of the first to third aspects, the object has a recess, and the contact is a cone that can be fitted into the recess.
According to a fifth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, the object has a cone-shaped convex part, and the contactor can be fitted into the convex part. Have

In the first aspect of the invention, the contact is fitted along the object by utilizing the physical characteristics of the object. And a contact detection part detects a contact, and grasps | ascertains the position of a target object indirectly. For this reason, even if it is a target object which has a recessed part or a convex part, the position of a target object can be detected correctly. Accordingly, erroneous detection of the object by the contact detection unit is reduced, and work efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, the position of the contact can be easily detected by analyzing an image obtained by imaging by the camera.
In the second invention, when the contact is moved by the moving unit, the object can be detected over a wide area.
In the third invention, the robot can be easily approached by operating the robot with a simple program.
In the fourth and fifth inventions, the contact can be fitted along the object by a relatively simple configuration.

  These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

It is a perspective view which shows the position detection system based on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the position detection system shown by FIG. It is a 1st perspective view for demonstrating operation | movement of a position detection system. It is a 2nd perspective view for demonstrating operation | movement of a position detection system. It is a 3rd perspective view for demonstrating operation | movement of a position detection system.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following drawings, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals. In order to facilitate understanding, the scales of these drawings are appropriately changed.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a position detection system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the position detection system 1 mainly includes a moving unit 11, a contact detecting unit 12, and a control device 10 that controls the moving unit 11 and the contact detecting unit 12. In addition, the control device 10 serves as an object position detection unit that detects the position of the object as will be described later.

  The moving unit 11 is, for example, a vertical articulated robot, but may be another type of robot or another mechanism unit that can move in the vertical direction. The contact detection unit 12 is a visual sensor or a camera. In the following description, it is assumed that the moving unit 11 is a robot and the contact detection unit 12 is a camera.

  As illustrated, a base member 13 is attached to the tip of the robot 11. And the camera 12 is attached to the front-end | tip of the arm 14 fixed so that it might extend substantially perpendicularly with respect to the base member 13. FIG.

  Furthermore, a sliding mechanism 20 is attached to the base member 13. Specifically, two X-axis rails 21 parallel to each other of the sliding mechanism portion 20 are provided on the upper surface of the base member 13. The positional relationship among the base member 13, the arm 14, the camera 12, and the two X-axis rails 21 is fixed to each other, and when the robot 11 moves, these move together. Further, as shown in the drawing, the first slider 23 of the sliding mechanism portion 20 is slidably disposed on the two X-axis rails 21.

  Two Y-axis rails 22 parallel to each other of the sliding mechanism portion 20 are provided on the upper surface of the first slider 23. These Y-axis rails 22 are perpendicular to the aforementioned X-axis rails. And the 2nd slider 24 of the sliding mechanism part 20 is arrange | positioned at the two Y-axis rails 22 so that sliding is possible.

  Further, a substantially cylindrical contact 30 is inserted and fixed in the opening provided in the center of the second slider 24. The upper surface 31 of the contact 30 is parallel to the upper surface of the second slider 24, and a target T is provided. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the target T is located below the camera 12 within the range of the visual field of the camera 12. The X direction defined by the X-axis rail 21 and the Y direction defined by the Y-axis rail 22 are preferably both in the horizontal plane. For this reason, the upper surface of the second slider 24 is in a horizontal plane.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the contact 30 extends downwardly between the two Y-axis rails 22 and between the two X-axis rails. An extension portion 32 extends from the lower surface of the contact 30, and a copying portion 33 is provided at the tip of the extension portion 32. The contact 30, the extension part 32 and the copying part 33 preferably have a common central axis.

  Here, the extension part 32 has a dimension larger than the recessed part formed in the target object mentioned later. And the copying part 33 is a shape suitable for fitting along the recessed part of a target object. For example, in FIG. 1, the extension portion 32 has a cylindrical shape having a diameter larger than the diameter of the concave portion, and the copying portion 33 has a cone, for example, a cone shape provided at the tip of the extension portion 32.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the position detection system shown in FIG. 3A to 3C are perspective views for explaining the operation of the position detection system. The operation of the position detection system of the present invention will be described below with reference to these drawings.

  Before the operation of the position detection system 1, the first slider 23 and the second slider 24 are positioned at their respective predetermined initial positions. The position of the first slider 23 and the second slider 24 does not change when the robot 11 simply moves in the horizontal direction and / or the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the object W has a substantially cubic shape, and an opening W0 is formed on the top surface. A cylindrical recess extends from the opening W0 into the object W. The following description shall be applied even if it is the target object W of the other shape which has the same recessed part.

  First, in step S <b> 11 of FIG. 2, the control device 10 moves the robot 11 to bring the base member 13 closer to the upper side of the object W. Since the robot 11 can be operated by a simple program, the base member 13 can be easily and accurately approached above the object W in the present invention.

  As described above, since the base member 13, the arm 14, the camera 12, and the two X-axis rails 21 operate integrally, when the base member 13 is moved, the camera 12 is similarly moved. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3A, the contact 30 is positioned substantially above the object W.

  Here, the movement of the base member 13 and the like in step S11 may include both horizontal and vertical movements. In addition, the distance between the contact 30 and the object W shown in FIG. 3A is preferably within a predetermined range. When the contact 30 is positioned substantially above the object W, the camera 12 images the target T of the contact 30 and the image is stored in the control device 10.

  In step S12, as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3A, the robot 11 moves the base member 13 and the like downward only toward the workpiece W. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the leading end of the copying portion 33 enters the opening W0, and a part of the side surface of the copying portion 33 contacts a part of the opening W0.

  When the base member 13 and the like are further moved downward by the robot 11, the copying portion 33 descends following the opening W0. With this downward movement, the contact 30 and the second slider 24 move slightly along the X-axis rail 21 and the Y-axis rail 22 in at least one of the X direction and the Y direction. And as FIG. 3C shows, a part of side surface of the copying part 33 comes to fit in the opening part W0 over the whole circumferential direction. When the copying portion 33 of the contact 30 is fitted into the opening W0, the contact 30 does not move further in the X direction and the Y direction. Then, the lowering operation by the robot 11 is also terminated.

  Next, in step S <b> 13, the camera 12 images the target T of the contact 30, and the image is stored in the control device 10. And the control apparatus 10 detects the moving amount | distance in the X direction and the Y direction of the contactor 30 by comparing the image imaged in step S13 with the image mentioned above. Finally, in step S14, the position of the object W in the XY plane is detected based on the amount of movement of the contact 30 in the X and Y directions.

  Alternatively, the control device 10 performs image processing on the image captured in step S <b> 13, detects the movement amounts from the initial positions of the first slider 23 and the second slider 24, and uses these as the movement amounts of the contact 30. The position of the object W may be detected. In this case, it is not necessary for the camera 12 to capture an image in step S11, and a single imaging process is sufficient.

  As described above, in the present invention, the camera 12 does not directly detect the object W, but detects the contact 30 fitted along the object W. When the copying portion 33 of the contact 30 engages with the opening W0 of the object W, the contact 30 moves along the X-axis rail 21 and the Y-axis rail 22 in the X direction and the Y direction. For this reason, the position of the object W can be indirectly grasped by detecting the movement amount of the contact 30 using the camera 12.

  Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to accurately detect the position of the target object W even if the target object W has a concave or convex portion. In other words, since the camera 12 does not directly detect the shape of the object W, in the present invention, stable detection is possible without being affected by the characteristics of the object W. Therefore, erroneous detection of the object W by the camera 12 is reduced, and work efficiency can be improved.

  In step S11, the robot 11 may move the base member 13, the camera 12, and the like in the horizontal direction. In this case, the control device 10 stores the amount of movement of the base member 13 and the like moved by the robot 11 in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively. In step S14, the position of the object W is detected using both the movement amount of the contact 30 in the X direction and the Y direction and the movement amount stored in the X direction and the Y direction of the base member 13 and the like. To do. In such a case, it can be seen that the object W can be detected over a wide area because the base member 13 and the like are moved by the robot 11.

  Moreover, in embodiment which is not shown in figure, a target object has a convex part, for example, a cone-shaped convex part. In such a case, it is assumed that a concave portion similar to that described above that can be fitted to the convex portion is formed on the lower surface of the extension portion 32 of the contact 30. In this case, the shape of the concave portion is a shape corresponding to the bottom surface of the cone-shaped convex portion. Moreover, when the shape of the cross section of a convex part or a recessed part differs, even if it is a case where a convex part or a recessed part is a cylinder, it shall be included in the scope of the present invention.

  Although the present invention has been described using exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art can make the above-described changes and various other changes, omissions, and additions without departing from the scope of the invention. You will understand.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Position detection system 10 Control apparatus (object position detection part)
11 Robot (moving part)
12 Camera (contact detection unit)
13 Base member 14 Arm 20 Slide mechanism part 21 X-axis rail (slide part)
22 Y-axis rail (sliding part)
23 First slider (sliding part)
24 Second slider (sliding member)
30 Contact 31 Upper surface 32 Extension part 33 Copying part

Claims (5)

In the position detection system (1) for detecting the position of an object having a recess or a protrusion,
A contact (30) provided with a copying portion (33) that fits along the concave portion or the convex portion of the object;
A sliding member (24) integrally formed with the contact;
Sliding portions (21-23) for sliding the sliding member in two directions perpendicular to each other;
A moving part (11) for moving the contactor in a direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the two directions and fitting the copying part of the contacting member along the concave part or the convex part of the object. When,
A camera (12) that is in a fixed positional relationship with the base of the sliding portion and detects the position of the contact in the plane;
Includes object position detection unit for detecting a position of pre-Symbol object and (10),
A target is provided on the upper surface of the contact, and the target is located within the field of view of the camera,
The object position detection unit includes: an image of the target imaged by the camera before the copying unit of the contact follows the recess or the projection of the object; and the copying unit of the contact The amount of movement of the contact detected from the image of the target taken by the camera after the sliding member slides on the sliding portion following the concave portion or the convex portion of the object. A position detection system for detecting the position of the object based on the position .   When the moving unit moves the contact in at least one of the two directions, the amount of movement of the contact by the moving unit and the sliding member slide on the sliding unit. The position detection system according to claim 1, wherein the position of the object is detected based on the amount of movement of the contact when the contact is made. The position detection system according to claim 1 , wherein the moving unit is a robot. The position detection system according to claim 1, wherein the object has a recess, and the contact is a cone that can be fitted into the recess. The position detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the object has a cone-shaped convex portion, and the contact has a cylindrical body that can be fitted to the convex portion.

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